Becker's Hospital Review

93 93 CEO/STRATEGY Azar to hospital execs: Administration 'not interested in incremental steps' for cost reform By Leo Vartorella H HS Secretary Alex Azar outlined a number of reforms his administration plans to take to lower healthcare costs during a March 5 speech at the Federation of American Hospitals convention in Washington, D.C., according to The Hill. Mr. Azar said he plans to implement changes that will increase price transparency, make it easier for patients to access their health records and loosen regulations that may stifle innovation. He made it clear he does not intend to bend to healthcare inter- ests during this process. "Today is an opportunity to let everyone know that we take these shifts seriously, and they're going to happen — one way or an- other," Mr. Azar said, according to The Hill. "The administration and this president are not interested in incremental steps. We are unafraid of disrupting existing arrangements simply because they're backed by powerful special interests." The address did not single out providers, but also called for phar- macies and drug manufacturers to increase their price transpar- ency. Mr. Azar also said he plans to reform Medicare and Medic- aid in order to lead the charge toward a value-based healthcare system, noting many commercial payers follow the government's lead for payment models. "If we don't change those, nothing will change," Mr. Azar said, ac- cording to The Hill. "Only Medicare and Medicaid have the heft, the market concentration, to drive this kind of change, to be a first mover." n 3 senior Essentia Health executives depart By Anuja Vaidya D uluth, Minn.-based Essentia Health announced three senior executives are no longer working with the health system, according to the Duluth News Tribune. The executives are: • Jeff Korsmo who served as the operations and administration senior leader • Tracy Miland who served as the senior strategy leader • Bob Brigham who served as the Essentia-East Market operations leader All three executives worked at Essentia Health for less than two years. Their departures were a personnel matter, and therefore, the health system did not provide any further details. The health system thanked them "for their service to Essentia Health and wish them the best as they move on to pursue other opportunities," according to an email obtained by the Duluth News Tribune. Mr. Korsmo joined Essentia in August 2016, after serving as president and CEO of Wichita, Kan.-based Via Christi Health. Ms. Miland formerly served as vice president of strategy, customer experience and marketing at HealthEast Care System in St. Paul, Minn. She joined Essentia in September 2017. Mr. Brigham, who also came to Essentia in September 2017, previously served as senior vice president for hospitals and clinics at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. n AHA CEO responds to Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel's NYT op-ed: 'The real issue is redefinition of hospital' By Alyssa Rege A merican Hospital Association President and CEO Richard Pollack penned a letter to the editor to The New York Times March 4 in response to a previous article by Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, begging the question: Are hospitals obsolete? In his op-ed, Dr. Emanuel, a physician and author perhaps best known as an architect of the ACA, argued a plethora of factors have contributed to declining hospitalizations during the past two decades or so. As the trend continues, hospitals will either be forced to "downsize, merge or close, [while] others will convert to doctors' offices or outpatient clinics," he wrote. "Instead of trying to forestall the inevitable, we should welcome the advances that are making hospitals less important. Any change in the healthcare system that saves money and makes patients healthier deserves to be celebrated," Dr. Emanuel wrote. However, Mr. Pollack argued hospitals are unequivocally not obsolete. In times of disaster or tragedy, communities lean on their hospitals to provide care, a "fact [that] will never change," he wrote. "Hospitals and health systems … will continue to perform sophisticated surgery, diagnostics and therapeutics at the cutting edge of scientific development. is work will always be there and will only grow," Mr. Pollack wrote. "e real issue is the redefinition of the hospital. Hospitals and health systems are leading the greatest transformation in history. ey are working to provide coordinated and convenient care beyond their four walls that is more responsive to patients and communities than ever before, all with a focus on keeping people healthy." n

• Cover